One of the key principles of traditional Chinese medicine is to not resist events, relationships, feelings - anything. That doesn't mean that you should let yourself become a doormat, but rather that you should be open and receptive to life in all its forms, particularly to your own inner strength and wisdom. When you no longer struggle to control the outcome of your life, you reduce inner tension, express your true nature, and connect with the world around you.
When you receive and let go, you are following the motions of the universe and of nature - the tides, the birth and death of a star, the waxing and waning of the moon, the expanding and contracting of magma in the earth's center, the opening and closing of flower petals, the rise and fall of your chest as you breathe, the cycle of sleeping and waking up. All of life moves in and out, filling and emptying, naturally expanding to embrace the next level of existence.
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The lung energies govern the lungs, skin, and the lungs' paired organ, the large intestine - the organs that enable us to breathe in and expel what we do not need. These energies, which are also called metal energies, magnetically attract atoms of chemical elements such as hydrogen and oxygen into the more complex molecular bonds that are necessary for organic life. The energies in the lower abdomen then magnetically pull these complex bonds into our core and allow the spirit to breathe. Pregnancy Tips Getting Pregnant
The metal energies also connect with po, the corporeal soul that aligns with the ethereal soul to preside over physical being and regulate internal process through the autonomic nervous system. As the chemical elements of air infuse us with the breath of life, po infuses us with our individual spirit, allowing us to see value in our emotions, feelings, outlook, and life. Po grasps life and represents our instinctual knowing, our sense of touch and being touched. Po is associated with beginnings and continuation and enables us to appreciate and revere each breath take. It is also associated with the color white, the color of bones. Po represents the death of the dense self-centered ego, and the resurrection of the pure untainted self. Po allows us to say yes to life, and stays with us until it expires with our last breath.
Breathing, therefore, not only infuses our cells with life-giving oxygen, it connects us to all things and allows us to go to the depths of our feelings and our core. When we focus on breathing, we go to our foundation and connect with our spirit. In fact, in many ancient languages, breath and spirit are synonymous. I once read that indigenous Hawaiians described Europeans who roached their islands as "the men who pray without breathing" because it was unthinkable to them that people could connect with the Divine without employing their breath.
Taking in air, and with it po, our energies are enlivened by the sun and lifted high, just as the downward force of a bird's flapping wings allows it to rise into the sky. And when we exhale, we give back our breath to the universe to enable plants to survive. In between inhaling and exhaling lies the internal abyss, the source of contentment and connection to all of creation. As Rumi wrote in his poem "The Embryo":
When the time comes for the embryo to receive the spirit of life,
At that time the sun begins to help.
This embryo is brought into movement, for the sun quickens it with spirit.
From the other stars this embryo received only an impression,
until the sun shone upon it.
How did it become connected with the shining sun in the womb?
By ways hidden from our senses:
the way whereby gold is nourished,
the way a common stone becomes a garnet and the ruby red,
the way fruit is ripened,
and the way courage comes to one distraught with fear.
We are born with a sense that we are the universe, that everything revolves around us. Then, as we grow, we realize we are individual entities and spend the rest of our lives developing our identities. We also form bonds - with our parents, siblings, partners, and friends - some of which we keep for life and some of which we let go. Like the coming and going of the air we breathe, we form and release friendships as we become different people ourselves. We learn about ourselves in relation to others when we take off our masks to reveal our soft inner selves. Pregnancy Tips Getting Pregnant
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This process of individuation, connection, and letting go, which is governed by the metal energies, involves risk. Forming bonds that may be relinquished exposes us to potential sadness and grief. But it also opens us up to new possibilities. As we do when we're dancing, we hold hands, let go, go back to the place from where we started, and clasp hands with another. When partners change, the dance becomes new again. And the dance enables us to find our true selves.
But the metal energies not only give us our sense of self; they eventually free us from the need to have others provide our sense of belonging. They help us to attach, separate, and gain an everwidening relationship with the world - through friends, schools, church, career; and cultural organizations. As we become aligned higher and higher with the energy of the cosmos, our initial illusory separation from the Divine that began when we accepted our first breath comes full circle and we feel ourselves connected with everything and find the Divine everywhere, both within and without.
This return to the true self is associated with the energies of the fall: with the old giving way to await the emergence of the new. Though trees whose leaves lie on the ground appear dead, with patience, when warmth and light return, those trees will sprout again. Only death, whose contracting energies we so vehemently resist, allows new life to emerge. While it can be extremely painful to let part of your life fall away - some things that you simply don't want to let go - that release allows your powerful metal energies to raise you to new levels and bring new life and new possibilities. To learn more, you can check out Pregnancy Tips Getting Pregnant.
